Humble
by Icebaerchen
Summary: Shikadai is considered a prodigy. Being the future heir of the Nara Clan as well as the offspring of the Kazekage bloodline, expectations have always been high. And he tries to meet them in his own way.


**Whoops, only now I noticed that somehow the author's note wasn't uploaded with the rest of the text... Oh well.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own neither the original story nor the characters.**

 **Guest: Thank you for your kind review, I really appreciate the feedback!**

 **In general, any kind of feedback is welcome! This is my fist attempt at writing fanfiction so don't be shy to give me advice for the future. And please comment on any grammar or spelling mistakes! I partly do this to improve my English (not a native speaker).**

 **Humble**

A man with a spiky dark ponytail and a matching goatee walked along one of the many corridors of the Hokage Tower, hands buried deep into his pockets. While at first glance this man wore a kind of bored expression, his eyes betrayed the intense thinking process inside his head.

After the latest attack of the Ōtsutsuki Clan members, Kinshiki and Momoshiki, the Hidden Leaf Village was left in quite the mess and Shikamaru was amongst those responsible to clean it up. The situation wasn't as bad as it was after Pain's assault, but it was still a problem that needed to be taken care of immediately. On top of that, his regular duties as the Hokage's right hand man had to wait and he knew they would welcome him back with a slap to the face. Troublesome.

But this kind of trouble was outweighed by the relief he felt. Thanks to Naruto's heroic act to protect everyone and the following rescue mission that was led by the four other Kages (plus Sasuke and Boruto) the causalities were limited. Quite a few people had been injured, but there were only a handful of people who died. They didn't make it out of the arena where the Chūnin exams were held in time and were crushed by the falling rubble. Even if the number of dead people was limited, every life lost still hurt. But looking at the situation from a more self-centred perspective, every person important to him was still alive. And life taught him, that this was something to be grateful for.

Before his train of thought could go back to the task that previously occupied his mind, he was stopped by a pile of documents that was nearly shoved into his face. After the first shock he tried to identify the assailant. At first, he noticed the dark ponytail similar to his own. But when their eyes met, Shikamaru was once again baffled at how much they resembled his wife's eyes.

"I finished organizing the occupancy of the hospital rooms.", was all Shikadai said.

"Ah, thank you." Shikamaru took the pile and started skimming through it. "You did a good job." He didn't say it (only) as an encouraging parent, but really meant it. Shikadai didn't incur to the compliment. Instead he simply asked if there was anything else he could do. Shikamaru took a moment to look closely at his son. Usually both of them had very similar attitudes when it came to things being a drag and not wanting to deal with it in the first place. But contrarily to his younger self, Shikadai's attitude changed as soon as his help was needed. This must be a trait he picked up from his better half.

"Yeah, tell the Hokage to assign a team of Genin to clear the rubble in and around the arena. Or at least what's left of it."

"Troublesome." He was his son after all, troublesome indeed. Nonetheless Shikadai turned and started his way to the Hokage's office, not noticing that his father watched him leave with a thoughtful expression.

Shikadai woke up with a loud yawn. The sun was already high, infiltrating his room through the still closed curtains. It was rare for his mother to let him sleep in this long, but the past few days had be everything else than normal. It has already been a week since the Hokage and the others came back victoriously and everyone, including Shikadai, had been busy helping to clear the situation as much as possible. It seemed, that he finally earned his day off.

Downstairs in the kitchen he enjoyed taking his time with breakfast while his mother was getting ready to go on a mission, most likely inside the village compound, given the situation. "I heard that you did quite the good job on helping the Hokage and your father with all of this.", Temari spoke up. With his mouth still full of omelette, Shikadai looked up, indicating to his mother that he was listening. "As expected of my son.", she continued with a slight but genuine smile. "I should be home in time to prepare dinner." And with that, she was gone. "Troublesome", Shikadai muttered, not knowing how to feel about her statement.

After eating up and cleaning the dishes, Shikadai left the Nara household to dedicate some time to one of his favourite pastimes. Unlike his father, he didn't really like cloud watching. Instead he would search for a café or restaurant, where he could sit next to a window and observe people. Not in a creepy stalker kind of way. He just enjoyed watching them pass by and imagining what their life was like. What kind of work would this man do? Does this little girl like flowers or would she rather like to brawl with others? Is this woman waiting for her date? People were generally troublesome, but quite interesting at the same time. Little did Shikadai know that he wouldn't even reach the café to start his observation.

"…that means for now we're finished discussing how to deal with the interrupted Chūnin exams." Naruto let out a sigh of relief and leaned back into his chair. The other Kages, all assembled in the same room, seemed to be similar tired. If the exams would have gone smoothly, they would have left three days ago already. But after the recent incidents, a quick change of plans had to be made. Now things finally seemed to calm down a bit. On top of the already tiring matter of politics, they all looked a bit battered, after having to fight the two ogres in order to maintain peace and save as many lives as possible.

"I still have a request I would like to address." This was said by the current Mizukage, Chōjūrō. The formerly quiet and shy boy had become quite a man, respected by his village and the other leaders alike. "What is it?" Darui, the Raikage, said while not really looking enthusiastic to talk about yet another dull topic.

"Come on in." Shikadai looked up to meet the friendly gaze of his uncle, Kankurō. The usually already light-hearted man seemed to be in a good mood. But sometimes, his facial expressions were hard to read beneath all that make up.

Shikadai stood up and followed his uncle into the room where the leaders of the five hidden villages were holding their conference. He was nervous, to say the least. Did he do something wrong? Did he mess up one of the recent tasks he was assigned to? He couldn't tell but that made Shikadai even more anxious.

Inside the room he recognized the familiar faces of the Seventh and his father, who looked a little taken aback, but not angry. Shikadai didn't even try to read his other uncle's, Gaara's, expression, because his face wouldn't give any information away anyway. The young Nara tried to avoid eye contact with the other authorities that were looking at him. It would make him only more uncomfortable.

"You did well in completing different tasks to help us out with the current situation. In fact, you played an important role in gaining back stability" The Seventh started to address him. "Helping the medical team to provide all the injured people a fitting hospital room, leading a team of Genin to clear the area around the arena… On top of that you would have won your last match at the exams if my son didn't cheat." In the last sentence still hung a tone of disappointment and the Hokage seemed to be trailing off for a moment.

"That's why we decided to promote you to the position of being a Chūnin." This statement came from the Tsuchikage, blunt as ever.

Shikadai's eyes widened a bit in surprise. Only a bit, because this was on his list of possible reasons for being ordered here. He started creating this list as soon as uncle Kankurō located him on his way through town and led him here. He also already prepared his answer but went through it in his mind once again in order to be sure. And because he didn't want to be rude.

"I am honoured by this promotion. But I have to decline." The people in the room fell silent in surprise. He noticed drops of sweat forming on his father's forehead.

"I am well aware that I am normally not in a position to decline such an offer, but please hear me out. As a Chūnin I will lead people and as such, I will be responsible for their lives too. The recent events have shown me, that I might have the skill to be a leader, but not yet the heart of one. Without this kind of confidence in myself, how can I expect other people to put their trust in me? That's why I request being allowed to continue my training as a Genin. So that I can continue to become stronger and prove myself ones again at the next Chūnin exams. Please!" With this last word, Shikadai bowed his head and stayed in that pose.

Gaara looked at his nephew, contemplating. To him, he sometimes seemed like a grown man trapped inside the body of a twelve-year-old. He closed his black framed eyes and tried not to smile too obviously.

Darui was the first one to break the heavy silence that followed with a loud laugh. "Well with this kind of argumentation, it's hard to deny your request, kid! Does anyone else have any objections?" No one did. They were all either too much taken by surprise or smiling slightly. "Then you're dismissed!" Darui said, laughing once again.

Shikadai, who stayed in his bowing position added a final nod to it and left the room, kind of in a hurry. The reason why he didn't look up before leaving was partly that he was well aware of his position and situation. And partly because he didn't want to see the disappointment on his father's face.

"This kid is really something else." The Tsuchikage was resting her head on one hand while she said that, smiling. "Yeah, he is…" muttered Shikamaru, more to himself than anyone else.

Shikadai didn't go back home after that. Instead he went back to his original plan and watched the people wandering through the streets of Konoha in the sunset light. He didn't want to go back home yet. While he wasn't afraid of being scolded, he was afraid of having to face his parents' disappointment.

When he was six years old, he came to realise that his parents, as well as a few of his other close relatives, were important people in the history of shinobi. You could even call them heroes. Being born into such a family, everyone always had high expectations of him. While his parents never tried to pressure him too much, his sharp intellect denied him to turn a blind eye on the situation. That's why he tried, despite his generally lazy attitude, to live up to these expectations. Even if it was a drag.

When his mother scolded him for not following her orders to take action against the Byakuya Clan member, that already felt bad. Losing his match against Boruto (even though said one cheated) still felt painful, even if he still thought that it was the right decision to forfeit. But after turning town such an opportunity… he really didn't want to know what his parents would say about that. Sometimes it didn't seem like he cared about their opinion, but that wasn't true.

It was already dark when Temari heard footsteps on the veranda. The door was closed and the person did an overall good job of trying to hide his presence, but the sound didn't escape her trained Kunoichi ears. Her husband returned to the Hokage's office a while ago, still having to deal with the consequences of the recent attack. Before he left he told her about what happened in the conference room. As such, Temari could imagine why her son would come home this late in the evening.

She let out a sigh and slid open the door to the garden, startling the boy sitting on the veranda, looking at the stars vacantly. "M-mom…"

"Did you have any intention of coming in on your own?" Her voice was calm and Shikadai wasn't able read her mood. Temari sat down beside him and the two of them stayed like this in silence. Shikadai waiting nervously for the lecture that was yet to come. "Your father told me about the promotion…" Here it comes, thought Shikadai while tensing up.

"I am proud of you. As expected of my son."

"Huh?" This was definitely not on his list of possible outcomes. "You're not disappointed? Or mad at me?" He turned his face to look directly at her, mouth open and eyes wide. Her son's perplexed expression caused Temari to giggle, adding even more to his confusion. Usually Shikamaru would take care of talking about these kind of things, but now it seemed to be her turn. She was somehow glad actually, she rarely got to talk to her son like this.

"Being able to stay true to yourself and doing what you think is right instead of pleasing others is an important quality every shinobi should have. If you truly believe that you want to grow as a person and as shinobi before taking on this kind of responsibility, then you made the right choice. Your father thinks the same."

Shikadai's thoughtful expression told her that he was trying to understand what she just said. "But what about the reputation of the Nara clan? Or the one of the Kazekage bloodline?"

"These kinds of things are important, yes. But what is more important to me, as well as your father, is that you find your own way in life. You are more than the product of a bloodline. You are my son and I love you for who **you** are." Temari finished while laying an arm around his shoulders, gently hugging him from the side. Now Shikadai was really at a loss of words. While he always knew, that his mother loved him deeply, it was rare for her to express it verbally. She was the cruellest Kunoichi after all. Still, she was his mother and as such had also a very loving and gentle side to her, reserved for his father and him only. Maybe for her brothers, too.

"Plus..." she said, standing up and ruffling his hair. "You're going to take on the next exam, right? Now I expect you to blast through it." Temari gave him a wide smirk. "Troublesome.", was all he could answer to that. His mother laughed and looked at him with a kind expression, one he got to see less and less as he kept growing up. Shikadai decided he liked this kind motherly side of her.

"Now, come on in. Dinner is ready… I made Sashimi."


End file.
